


king and lionheart

by Murf1307



Series: XMA Fic Bingo Fics [27]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - High Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Exile, Knights & Sorcerers, Love at First Sight, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 08:13:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7566814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murf1307/pseuds/Murf1307
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sir Alexander Summers is a problem knight, accused of witchery — but in a neighboring land, he discovers that its sorcerer-king is in need of loyal knights, and when they meet, the world shifts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	king and lionheart

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be an ongoing but sparsely updated story primarily composed of bingo prompt fills. I have always wanted the fairy tale/high fantasy/arthurian romance au for this ship, and so i guess i'm finally writing it.
> 
> this chapter's bingo prompt is 'high fantasy au'

“And for these charges and others, the normal charge would, of course, be death by fire,” announced the crier.  “But out of respect for Sir Alexander’s contributions to the kingdom, His Royal Majesty the King will make do with stripping him of his knighthood and exiling him from this land."

And with that, the crier departed.  

Alexander exhaled.  “Well,” he said, looking at his brother.  “I suppose you heard all of that."

“Well, I certainly didn’t _see_  it,” Scott responded.  It was true; the boy had been born blind.  “I suppose that means we’re leaving?"

“I’m the one being exiled, not you.”  Alexander sighed again.

Scott reached out and squeezed his shoulder.  “You’re a fool if you think I’m letting you leave without me."

Alexander supposed he was right.

“Fine.  I’ll…put together a saddlebag.  We can make the border by nightfall.”  Maybe they could start over in another land, somewhere where he could hide his name and become a hired sword.

War, and service to a crown, were the only things he knew.  Scott had skill as a carver, and certain abilities with blacksmithing — Scott would be fine, no matter where they settled.  He had skills; Alexander only knew how to kill.

These dark thoughts accompanied him all through packing up what was left of their lives, and through loading himself and his brother onto horses; Scott’s horse had been trained especially for him, back before Alexander had fallen out of favor with the court and the king.

“I will miss Lady Jean,” Scott admitted.  “I will write to her, I think, when we’re settled again."

“A fine idea, I think.  She quite likes you."

After that, they fell into a certain silence.  Brotherly, companionable, but also heavy; the reality now, that their lives would never be the same.

 

* * *

 

Westchester was a secretive land — there were rumors, in fact, that its young king, the previous King and Queen’s adopted son, was a sorcerer, and that the whole land was full of witches and monsters.

As good a place as any for a convicted ‘witch’ to restart his life, Alexander supposed.

Soon enough, though, they made their way to a small farming town, and settled in for the night in an Inn.

Alexander really should have known that something would have to happen — he’d been the hero in enough tales to know that this was the beginning of another chapter.

The young innkeeper, it turned out, had _wings._

“Well.  That’s…unusual,” he said, a bit unsettled.

The innkeeper raised an eyebrow.  “I take it you’ve never been in Westchester before."

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Scott asked, sighing.  “This is why I never let you take me anywhere, Alex."

“Your companion is surprised by my wings,” the innkeeper laughed.  “I take it you’re blind?"

“I’m not going to believe the sentence I just heard without proof,” Scott rebutted, smirking a little.

Alexander sighed, and had a feeling he was not going to be paid any attention to for the rest of the night.

He was right.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Alexander rose to find Scott already on the first floor of the in, deep in conversation with the innkeeper.  He rolled his eyes and stretched, snagging a roll from the breakfast table and wandering outside.

A winged innkeeper, and no one had anything to say about it.

Maybe Westchester was the right place to start over, indeed.

After a long moment, he saw gathering starting to develop in the town square.  He went to check it out, his hand on the pommel of his sword; the soldier at casual rest.  

Whispers all around him, something about the King.

Huh.  Perhaps he was passing through?

As it was, he must be, judging from the opulence of the caravan entering town from the opposite side from that which, the night before, Alexander and Scott had entered by.

It passed into the town square, and the people parted like water.

Alexander watched in silence.

But, as the royal carriage passed him, he locked eyes with its lone occupant.

He stared, something shifting and snapping inside him — the sensation that _everything was going to change_.

Warmth in his belly, too, not just from his _witchcraft,_  and he exhaled.

As the people returned to crowd the place where the caravan had parked, Alex pressed his way to the front, still staring at the carriage.

Something was happening, and he didn’t know what.

But he’d seen it, for a moment, in the king’s eyes.


End file.
